Monday, June 04, 2007

I Loooove My Husband!

This is an oddity because last night I was an enormous stress ball and have spent the last several days shedding many tears over this book of mine that was just not working!!!!

A few days ago (almost a week now, good gracious!) I finished my new project enough that I was ready to send it to my "soft" betas. i.e. my family. I know they will give me honest answers, but they will do so gently and they will read with an eye toward liking. It's always been a good first step for me.

So I sent it to my two sisters who I knew would really like the subject matter. (Which is a secret, by the way. Top secret!!;)) So they both came back saying that they loved the first 90% of the book (they actually both read it in one sitting) but they were bothered by the end. The things I intended just did not come through and the ending fell totally flat.

That's okay. I've been doing this long enough to accept criticism and after hashing out some ideas with my hubby, I got back to work.

And you know what happened? The ending just got flatter and flatter. Nothing was working!!!

Now you get some history.

I came up with the basic idea for this book on my own and I told my husband about it. He got really excited about it and jumped onto the idea bandwagon with me. At least half of the ideas in this book are my husband's. Seriously. I wrote it, but he was a humongous contributor in every step. He even did some fabulous editing for me.

So he knows this book inside and out and has really been working with me on it. but at this point, we both are at this standstill. We've made the book somewhat better content-wise, but it just didn't have that zing at the end that wraps everything up and gives you a smile as you turn over the last page. And who wants to end their book on a low note?!?!

So I was stressed out when we went to bed last night at about 11:00 PM and I was going through the end of the book (the epilogue specifically) in my head and wondering how I could ever make it work enough to feel confident sending it to my agent and that dark voice in the back of my head was even suggesting scrapping the whole project entirely. (Which would be silly. The first 90% of the book is really fun!)

Then, at about 11:30 I hear this little whisper. "Ps-t-s-t-s-"

"Huh?"

"I asked if you were awake."

Asked and answered, I guess.

So he proceeds to make one little suggestion. "What if, in the epilogue, Character A is talking to Character C, instead of Character B?"

Hallelujah!!!!!!

Seriously! I thought about this for about five seconds and everything clicked! I began writing in my head that very moment. It is amazing how one fairly small change can make all the difference in the world.

I got up the next morning and rewrote the epilogue. I sent it to my sister along with the last two chapters, which had also been revised. She loved it! It was the "right" ending now. It's out to my dad now, and we'll see what he thinks.

But I have a feeling he'll like it to. Because it just worked and I had that same feeling when I finished my last round of revisions with Jodi. It's at that "right" stage.

And that makes me very happy.

So my husband is my special person today . . . for more reasons than just because he's a great husband.;)

Aprilynne,I haven't checked in for a while and am glad I did. What a great and inspirational story? Have you read Kings "On Writing" yet? If for nothing else, I'd suggest it to you for his attitude on writing for his "First Reader" - his wife.

Hmmmm... I thought I posted a comment last night, but it obviously didn't go through. Good for you! Of course I have to pat myself on the back just a little because I did train that husband of yours! I did a great job, did't I?!...seriously, I am extremely happy for you. Can't wait to get a chance to see the unveiling...unless of course you trust me to read it aheaad of time...;o)

Heh, I feel priveledged enough to have read the first three ahead, and I get the feeling it's not *my* kind of book, maybe. And I can't hog all the first reads... so I'll see it when it's more finished! Yay!

P.S. *redfaced* I finally got around to updating my blog roll and added yours to it. Sorry it took so long (or was it there before and got nuked along with a few others when I updated my site??!! Who knows...)

I am the #1 New York Times Best-Selling author of the Wings series. My husband and I have four children and live in Glendale, Arizona. Further information, including a calendar of events, is available at my official website.